For Yang Eui-ji of the Doosan Bears, 2024 was a season of humiliation. Yang Eui-ji, who has a ransom of 15.2 billion won, failed to enter the catcher's defense rule. He was not even nominated for the Golden Glove. Has Doosan already begun the process of generational change.

Yang played 608 ⅓ innings as catcher in the 2024 season. It was the fewest innings in his career except for the 2021 season when he was not allowed to play defense due to injury. Yang immediately took charge of 773 innings in 2023.토토사이트

Kim Ki-yeon, a promising catcher, took 579 innings. She split the innings almost one-on-one with Yang Eui-ji. Kim Ki-yeon is a catcher from Gwangju Jinheung High School who was nominated by LG in the second and fourth rounds of the 2016 Rookie of the Year draft. She is a junior to Yang Eui-ji. At that time, she was highly regarded by LG and had high expectations as the next major catcher.

Yang Eui-ji, who was born in 1987, will enter the 38th season in 2025. 40 years old is not far away.

Considering this atmosphere, it is questionable whether Doosan has begun to prepare for the era of "post Yang Eui-ji."

In fact, it is too early for that to happen.

Doosan signed a large contract with Yang Eui-ji in 2023 with a total of 15.2 billion won for 4+2 years. It is possible to opt out two years later, but it is unlikely. Yang Eui-ji has four years left to sign a contract with Doosan and is effectively "Jongshin Doosan."

No matter how much Doosan values internal development, it is not enough to retreat the large catcher who has completed the two-year contract to the second line.

Samsung's Kang Min-ho, who is two years older than Yang Eui-ji, wore a catcher mask for 803 innings in 2024. He proudly showed off his strong performance by taking the Golden Glove. Yang Eui-ji is also old enough to play as the main catcher for at least two to three years from now.

Yang Eui-ji's playing time was only reduced because there were so many residual injuries last season. Yang Eui-ji also attended the fan festival "Bears' Gathering," which was held in the offseason, and expressed regret. Doosan officials hinted that Yang Eui-ji is working very hard to recover his honor in 2025.

For Doosan, Yang Eui-ji will take over 720 innings. Although Kim Ki-yeon showed a good performance last year, she has no experience as a full-time catcher. It is still stable to grow under the shadow of Yang Eui-ji by gaining experience step by step safely.

In addition, Doosan's infield first began a generational change as Kim Jae-ho retired and Huh Kyung-min moved to KT. Radical generational change is more at risk of causing confusion. In the catcher position where stability is essential, Yang Eui-ji must take the center and act as a mental support.

Therefore, the defensive innings of Kim Ki-yeon, not Yang Eui-ji, are expected to decrease somewhat in 2025. It is desirable for Yang Eui-ji to regain his consistency to the level of 2023 and for Kim Ki-yeon and Jang Seung-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jun to increase their stake little by little.